Hey, just wanted to know if horses and goats are compatible lol! We can't afford another horse but my horse right now is lonely since we ate his cowfriend (;D)..we were thinking about a goat! Probably a wether. It definitely would be less expensive. So if you have had a goat and a horse before please reply (:

Also, are goats hard to take care of?

equiniphile

05-03-2011 07:51 PM

Absolutely, they are compatible. We used to have goats as well, but they were suchh a mess and got into EVERYTHING. They lived out their lives here, but we never got another! Another option is a miniature horse; mine eat no grain, only free choice hay.

JamieLeighx

05-03-2011 08:17 PM

In general I would say yes , although I have a year old Jack donkey and a goat and they don't get on at all! My goat has to stay in a large pen with 13 hens lol . On the other hand my donkey would ram you over without a second though and it bites and kicks ( i do not have a say in any of these things)

If you do get a goat make sure you have a good fence that the goat cant escape out of , they are fast critters lol . What about a sheep , they do very well with horses or maybe a shetland they are very hardy and will only need hay , you can also get them very cheap.

Agreed. Goats and horses are very compatible. We have three goats, one in each of our horse pens, and they get along with the horses fantastically. The only problem? Everyone's right. They get in to EVERYTHING. We have five wire fencing with sturdy wooden board on the top and bottom, and they still get out! We've actually had to renovate all of our locks and stuff too, just to keep them out. One goat in particular- Montana - is a big pain in the butt. He's as tall as or taller than half of our minis and can get out of anything. He's leapt over our 5 foot fence, opened the bolted closed round pen, let the other horses out, gotten into the tack room, and eaten saddles!

If you can put up with their constant mischief though, goats are great. They rarely get sick (get a DEHORNED one if you do get a goat, though. It makes for less bills!), you can buy one cheap at auction or from a 4H member (that way they're collar trained, too) and they'll eat whatever your horse eats. Our horses love them =]

if you want something simpler though, you could try a miniature donkey. We have two donkeys at the moment and they get along really well with the horses too. Fearless and good companions, but remember that they can be just as hard as a goat to catch and lead if not trained properly! Make sure that the donkey you get is gelded though xD otherwise all kinds of issues can break out. We've learned from experience! They're also known to be quite loud at times... hehe.

Haven't tried the sheep, but they sound great too, especially if you already have a pasture.

Thanks guys! I feel stupid XD I completely forgot about minis! The decision now is a goat or a mini lol.

Endiku

05-03-2011 09:54 PM

Just remember that a mini needs just as much attention and such as a horse, as well as shodding and vaccinations! An ill trained mini can still do a LOT of damage. They know how to use their hooves and teeth! I should know o.- we've got 36 of them.

Poseidon

05-03-2011 09:56 PM

If you do get a goat and if I remember correctly, do not allow your horses to get into goat feed (if you feed it any sort of goat feed instead of just hay) as it is lethal to horses. I can't remember what's in it though..

Endiku

05-04-2011 12:48 PM

Poseidon- many people have debated the idea of there being toxic amounts of copper in goat feed, fine for goats- but lethal to horses. Really though, there is often more copper found in general horse feed such as Purina horse and pony feed than in goat feed. However, you're right. Most people say not to chance it with the horse by letting it get into goat food, not only because of the copper but because goat feed generally is made up of only corn, oats, and barley, all things that can be fed in limited amounts to horses, but can make any horse sick if too much is ingested. I would personally recommend just buying a nice, hardy goat who does well on roughage, so you dont have to worry about that. And if you do decide that the goat needs something extra, they do perfectly fine with generic horse and pony feed (thats what our goats eat, because they have a limited amount of roughage for both the horses and goats). Generally goats are much more hardy than horses are, so changing their food is a better idea than the horses.

lokis mommy

05-04-2011 03:40 PM

we have a goat on our yard and our horse get on really well there all run round the fields and have a really good time so yes there can get on

equiniphile

05-04-2011 04:31 PM

Another plus to the goats is that you can learn to trim their feet yourself.